Easy to Break
by fictiongrl101
Summary: It's their Senior year and Tristan finally gets his Mary. But after making the biggest mistake of his life he may lose her for good.
1. Chapter 1

Tristan had come back from military school a different person. He still had the cocky attitude, and god like body but Rory had decided that those things did not really count against him. He no longer had a different girl every week, he did not skip school, actually followed most of the rules, and instead of picking on her he had asked her out…after giving her a cup of coffee.

It had taken him two months to ask her out and Rory still blamed it all on the coffee. If he had not given her the drink of the god's then maybe she wouldn't have said yes. She also blamed the kiss he had given her before he had left for military school. If Tristan had not given her that kiss she would have still been dating Dean and then she would have _never _said yes.

As it was Tristan did give her coffee, which had helped her make it through her day. It had also made her soften towards him because she did not think he would ever notice something about any girl like her love of coffee. It had made her think that maybe he really did care about her.

He had kissed her before leaving for military school. It was a kiss that she had not been able to forget. It had made every kiss with Dean seem awkward and had finally caused her to break up with him after realizing that their relationship was missing the spark that she wanted. It had made it impossible for her to even consider dating Jess, fearing what it would mean if she did not find that spark with him.

After saying yes Rory had decided that she would go on that one date with Tristan and that would be the end of it. If only she would have stuck to her plan. One date became three and three dates became nine and then she became his girlfriend. The other students at school were shocked when they learned that she was Tristan DuGrey's girlfriend.

After seeing them together for a month they had gotten over their shock and began to place bets on how long they would last. The short lengths of time that she heard people betting should have brought her back to reality but it didn't. Now she had the sudden urge to say that the person who betted two months was the lucky winner and tell them what they won in a cheesy game show host voice. The thought made her want to laugh and cry at the same time.

He had promised he had changed, that he could actually handle having a girlfriend. _Girlfriend. _A word that everyone had thought would never be used when talking about Tristan. A word that she should have known would mean nothing to him because he was not the type to actually understand the word trust. Something needed in every relationship that held a title, such as boyfriend or _girlfriend._

If only she had remembered that Tristan DuGrey could not be trusted to stay away from other girls, could not be a boyfriend, and could not have a long relationship. If she would have remembered all of this then maybe, no, then she would _never _have had to stand in a school hallway that was full of so many students who watched with interest as her trust and heart were broken.


	2. Chapter 2

They had been dating for two months when Rory got the flu. It was Friday and they had planned to go the movies together but the only thing she was going to be doing was worship the porcelain god…better known as the toilet.

When she had talked to Tristan on the phone she had jokingly told him that he better not be caught making out with Mandy while she was out sick Over the two months of steady dating she had grown to trust Tristan and he knew that. That's why when she heard him say that he promised not to get caught she thought he was just joking with her.

Mandy had been one of the many girls Tristan had slept with before going off to military school. After he had come back she was also the one girl that was determined to have him in her bed and had not given up that dream even after being turned down so many times.

Rory had, at first, thought that Tristan might take Mandy up on her offer and even if the thought still popped into her head occasionally she had ignored it. She had told herself that Tristan would never cheat on her. Now as she looked at the sight before her she could have laughed at her own stupidity if it did not make her want to cry.

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FRIDAY 

Tristan walked into his home after one of the worst days of school that he had had since dating Rory. The house was empty and after sitting in his room trying to think of something to do he decided to get dressed and go to the party his friend Mike was throwing.

As soon as he entered Mike's house a can of beer was pushed into his hand by one of his friends. He walked into a room where all of the furniture had been cleared out to make room for people that wanted to dance. He joined a group of friends that were standing in the corner of the room talking.

Many girls asked him to dance but he turned each of them down choosing to, instead, talk to his friends. His friends sat watching with amused expressions as each girl he turned down pouted, then walk over to ask one of them to dance. There was no way they were going to get Tristan dance with any of the girls if they could have them all to themselves.

Every so often one of his friends would replace the empty beer can Tristan was holding with a full one. After most of the group had gone off, some to the dance floor and others to the rooms upstairs, Tristan, who now had a buzz, went to find Mike.

He found Mike in the kitchen doing shots with a couple of the other people and then Mike told him to join in. Tristan walked over to the counter thinking that Mike had a good idea and that he did need to have a few shots with friends.

_It's not like it could hurt anything. _He thought.

After a few shots of Tequila Tristan felt a weight settle into his lap and blinked his eyes drunkenly. When he felt lips settle onto his for a kiss he slipped his tongue out of his mouth and licked them. The lips opened to let his tongue slip into the warm mouth and his tongue touched the other.

_I shouldn't be doing this. _As quickly as this thought popped into his head it was gone.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Tristan woke with a groan and moved his arm to block out the morning light. When he noticed there was a heavy weight on his arm he turned his head to see what it was.

_Fuck. _He jumped off the bed, causing the person in it to roll over with a protest. _Rory is going to _kill _me._

He took in the sight of a naked Mandy and tried to remember what had happened last night. All he could remember was going up the stairs of Mikes house, then the feel of his clothes being removed, a mouth on his cock, the movement of a body under his, ad then the feel of his release.

_I deserve to die. _He thought as he searched the room for his clothes.

Tristan put on his clothes, slipped out of the house and went home. All the while he tried to think of a way to keep Rory from ever finding out he had not only cheated on her but that he had slept with the one girl he had always told her she had nothing to worry about.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **Thanks for the reviews. There will be dialogue in the story, and Logan will not be in it.

Monday 

Rory walked to her locker to find Tristan leaning against it with a cup of coffee in his hand. She reached up to give him a peck on the lips before pulling back to look around, still not comfortable with making out with him in school. He handed her the cup of coffee with a sheepish look on his face. There were dark circles under his eyes as if he had not been sleeping well.

"What's wrong?"

"What would make you think that something was wrong?" She thought his eyes had shifted away from her gaze as he said this only to find they were looking directly into hers again.

"Well, you didn't call all weekend and I was worried." Rory frowned at this part, remembering how she had waited for the call that never came. "Are you having problems with your family again?"

A distant look appeared in Tristan's eyes before he nodded his head. "Yeah, there is definitely a problem."

"Do you want to talk about it with me?" She was beginning to worry now, since the last time had a problem with his family he was sent to military school.

"I really don't think that would be the best idea." She watched as he ran his hand through his hair, something he only did when he was nervous.

"Why wouldn't it be the best idea?"

As Rory finished asking the question the warning bell rang and she remembered that she still needed to get into her locker. She walked over and began to put in her combination. When the door opened she put her backpack inside and pulled out her first period books. After shutting her locker door she looked at Tristan, who was watching her with a guarded expression.

" Tristan, why wouldn't it be a good idea to talk about it?" She asked after noticing that he had never answered her question.

"I just don't want you to worry." He started walking towards their first class and Rory followed.

"I'm worrying now." She said after a few silent moments.

He looked at her with an unreadable expression then walked into the classroom that she had not noticed they had reached. As she followed him into their class and sat down behind him she noticed that he had not said that she had nothing to worry about.

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Rory sat in study hall, which was the only class she did not have with Tristan, and thought about how odd he had been behaving all day. She tried to concentrate on her work but her mind kept flashing to those unreadable and worried expressions that Tristan kept giving her.

When a shadow fell over her she looked up into Paris' angry face. She and Paris had come up with a sort of friendly truce at the beginning of the year. In fact, Rory would say that they were _almost _friends, which was why it seemed odd for Paris to be looking at her with such anger.

Rory began to think. _What could I have done? Let's see I'm not doing a project with her, I turned my newspaper article in Wednesday…_

"Do you want me to castrate him?" Seeing Rory's blank expression she continued. "I have no problem castrating Tristan for you. I promise I don't!"

"Why would I want you to castrate Tristan?"

"You don't know." Paris said this in an unbelieving tone.

"What don't I know?"

Paris didn't know what to do on one hand she did not want to hurt the girl she was growing to consider her first real friend, but on the other Rory would be mad at her when she finally did find out from someone else. Paris decided that she had to be the one to break the news to Rory since anyone else would find a way to rub it in her face.

"Paris, what don't I know?"

"Well I was listening to Madeline and Louise talk about this party they went to Friday night and they said they saw Tristan there." Paris said this in one breath and stopped to think of a way to break the news.

"Okay, so Tristan went to a party. Is that all?" Rory was now trying not to laugh.

"No, see they saw Tristan go upstairs with…um…._ someone, _but they never saw him come down." Paris said this slowly as if weighing each of the words. "Then they heard from someone else that he did not leave until Saturday morning."

Rory's face began to drain of color as she realized exactly what Paris was saying. She actually became numb to feeling, as if she was a different person inside a very confused mind. Before she knew it the words that she never really wanted to say came out of her mouth.

"Who did he go upstairs with?"

Paris looked unsure about whether she should answer the question or not. Then Rory's next words made up her mind.

"You know I'll find out anyways so you may as well get it all over with. Please, don't make me wait for the answers to my questions." Rory said this in a whisper.

"He went upstairs with Mandy."

Rory got up just as the bell rang and left the room. _Maybe it's all a mistake. Maybe it wasn't Tristan they saw or it could just be a vicious rumor._ She thought this without really believing any of the excuses were true but wanting to believe them.

As she reached the hallway where her locker was she took a deep breath and readied herself to face Tristan. She turned the corner and saw him…with Mandy pressed up against him. Rory did not see Tristan trying to push Mandy away all she saw was the blonde's arms around his neck and her lips on his.

This is how Rory came to be standing in a hallway full of students who watched with interest as her heart and trust were broken.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Thanks for the reviews. It's great to know that other people like my story.

Rory bit her lip to keep the tears that were building up in her eyes from falling. She would at least keep that much dignity after this disaster. She tried to block out the whispers of the people around her.

As she stood there watching Tristan lift his head from Mandy's a crowed began to gather as they noticed what was going on. The end of their relationship would be the biggest news of the month and everybody wanted to be able to say they saw it take place. She would not give them the satisfaction of seeing her cry.

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Tristan watched as Mandy looked out of the corner of her eye before giving a satisfied smirk. He followed her gaze with a feeling of dread and his eyes met the familiar blue eyes of Rory. He saw the tears that were building up in her eyes before she blinked them away and scowled.

Tristan had been taken by surprise when Mandy had run up to him and threw her arms around his neck. When he had tried to push her off she had dug her nails into his skin. Just as he had reached behind his neck to unhook her arms he had seen one of Mandy's friends waving wildly from the corner of his eye. Mandy had pressed her lips to his roughly and he had automatically moved his hands to push her away.

Tristan looked down at the hands he still had not moved and noticed that he had them over both of her breasts. He quicklypulled them away from her body, but when he looked back at Rory's face he knew the damage was already done.

_This does not look good._ He grimaced at the thought of how it looked to Rory. _I'll just explain what happened and she'll understand that I was completely innocent._

At this last thought Tristan winced, he wasn't completely innocent. The memories of Friday night flashed through his head. He took a deep breath and reached around his neck to unhook Mandy's arms. She let go of his neck willingly then ran her hands down his chest before turning around and walking down the hallway without a backwards glance.

Tristan turned his body to face Rory who let out a small cynical laugh.

"You don't have _anything_ to worry about Rory I would _never_ cheat on you. Why would I want Mandy when I have you?"

Tristan winced at the sound of Rory repeating what he had told her so often. Her tone mocking words that he had meant every time he had said them, a promise he had kept…until Friday night.

"Rory it's not what it looks like."

After seeing the way her expression changed to one of fury he knew that he had said the worst thing possible. He found himself wanting to reach out and take the words back but it was already to late.

_Of course it's not what it looks like…it's_ worse _than it looks_. His conscience mocked. _You didn't just kiss Mandy you also_ fucked _her._

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Rory wanted to scream at him, or throw something. She wanted to make him hurt the way she was hurting. _It's not what it looks like_, the words echoed throughout her body and she felt anger slowly begin to rise.

She had come to him after hearing that he had slept with another girl only to find him kissing that girl. And all he had to offer her was some cheesy line that was obviously a lie since there was _no _way to misinterpret what two mouths locked together meant!

"Oh! So you weren't kissing _Mandy!_" Rory spat the name out.

"No, I wasn't."

"Let me guess, you didn't sleep with her either did you!" Rory was almost yelling.

After seeing his shocked face Rory knew that he had slept with Mandy. She felt the anger swiftly fade, leaving her blessedly numb. _He had actually cheated on her. _

"It's over Tristan. I don't want you anymore."

Her soft emotionless tone scared Tristan more than her anger had. He felt desperation settle in.

"Rory, I'm sorry. It was all a mistake. Please don't give up on our relationship. We can work this out if you just try."

"You're not worth the trouble, Tristan. You're not worth that kind of pain."

With that last cutting remark Rory walked down the hallway and left the school. Tristan watched with sadness and as her last remark settled in he felt tears burning to escape his eyes. He clenched his jaw and began to think of what he could do now. They had only been apart a few minutes and he already wanted his Mary back.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Sorry it took me so long to update.

As Rory walked through the student parking lot she heard someone running behind her. She turned, ready to confront Tristan and, instead, found herself looking at Paris.

"What do you want?"

"I thought you would need…well…need a…friend."

Rory was surprised that Paris had stumbled through a sentence and by the questioning tone that she had when she said friend.

"Yeah, I need a friend."

At these words Paris regained her confidence and became her usual self.

"Well, I'll drive you to your fairy book town and do whatever it is that needs to be done. Don't think to highly of yourself though, I'm only doing this because I owe you for helping me get ready for my date with Jamie."

If Rory would have been in a better mood she would have rolled her eyes, and smiled at Paris' speech. Instead, Rory just nodded her head and followed Paris to her car. As they pulled out of the parking lot Rory's mind wondered.

_It didn't hurt this much when Dean broke up with me. Why does it have to hurt so much? Why was I not good enough for him? Why am I never good enough?_ Rory thought of the people whose actions had showed her that she would never be good enough. Dean, who had moved on to Lindsay, one day after they had broken up, Her father, who had never been around when she needed him, and now Tristan.

Her thoughts began to eat away at her heart and tears began to slip out of her eyes. Sobs began to build up in her throat. Paris, who was not used to listening to another person cry and actually care, had no idea what she could do to help. When she saw the sign welcoming drivers to Stars Hallow, Paris stopped the car and turned to look at Rory.

"Where is your cell phone?"

After trying to decipher what Rory was saying between sobs, Paris finally figured out that Rory's cell phone was in the pocket of her school jacket.

"Give it to me."

When the phone was in her hand Paris opened it and began to scan through the small list of contacts. After finding the number she wanted Paris called it.

"Rory, is something wrong? Aren't you supposed to be in school?"

"Mrs. Gilmore, this is Paris and I'm outside of Stars Hollow with Rory." Paris went on to explain everything that had happened that day and when she was finished Lorelai was ready to castrate Tristan herself. "And I just wanted to know what I should do with her now."

Paris looked over at Rory who was now curled up in a ball. Her eyes were closed and every so often a tear slid past the eyelid.

"I can't get out of work right…" Lorelai began before Pairs cut her off.

"I wasn't calling to make you leave work to come and get her. I just don't know what to do to help."

Lorelai thought about what to do for a moment. She wanted to be there for her daughter but there was no way she could leave work since they were trying to get ready for a family reunion that was taking place the next day.

"Okay, first you need to go to Doosey's Market. While you're there you need to get chips, candy, cookies, and ice cream."

Paris pulled a small notepad from her jacket pocket and a pen from her glove box.

"What kind of chips, candy, cookies, and ice cream?"

As Lorelai listed the best foods to buy for her daughter Paris wrote it down in her notepad.

"…. Cookie dough ice cream so that you don't have to buy the cookie dough separate. After going to Doosey's you need to go to Luke's." Lorelai stopped to catch her breath and think over what else her daughter would need. " At Luke's you need to get two cheese burgers, fries, and four coffee's. That's all I can think of right now. Paris, thank you for doing this for Rory, she's lucky to have a friend like you. I'll pay you back for everything as soon as I get home."

"It's no problem. I'm actually happy to help Rory out after all she's done for me." Paris said this reluctantly. She was not used to discussing her feelings with other people. "She's a great friend."

Pairs heard an angry Frenchman screaming in the background.

"Oh, I have to go and, again, thank you so much for doing this." With that last comment Lorelai hung up the phone.

Paris closed Rory's cell phone and put it up on the dashboard. She started the car and entered Stars Hallow. After finding Doosey's Paris parked the car and looked over at Rory and considered waking her up but decided against it. She turned around and reached into her backpack to pull her wallet out before getting out of the car.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Doosey's was such a small market that it only took Paris twenty minutes to find everything she needed and pay for it. She walked back out to the car, her arms full of grocery bags. Paris put the bags into the back of her car and checked on Rory, who was now whimpering and crying in her sleep. Paris noticed the Luke's sign across the street and decided to walk over and get the rest of the food.

Paris walked into Luke's and up to the man who stood behind the counter. Luke noticed the teenage girl that was standing at the counter was wearing the same school uniform that Rory wore. He looked at the clock and noticed that Rory's school was not supposed to let out for another ten minutes.

"Is something wrong with Rory?"

Paris glared at the man. "I don't think that is any of your business. I want two burgers, fries, and four cups of coffee."

"If something is wrong with Rory you should tell me."

Paris' glare became even fiercer. "Listen, flannel boy, if you need to know what's wrong with Rory you can call her mom and find out because I am not going to tell you. Now go get my food."

Luke glared at Paris before turning to get her order.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Paris walked out of Luke's with her arms full of food and a triumphant smile on her face. When she got back to the car she noticed that Rory was awake and was still crying. She put the food in the back with the groceries and climbed into the driver seat.

"How are you doing?" She could have slapped herself for asking that question when the answer was so obvious.

There were many things that Paris was good at doing but one thing she had never mastered was dealing with emotional people. She had never been very comfortable voicing her own emotions, making it even harder to accept other people's emotions. She could handle jealousy, anger, and happiness but had never learned how to handle someone when they were sad or afraid.

Rory tried to give a weak smile as an answer to Paris' question.

"You can leave me here if you want. I can walk home and I'm sure you want to go home to work on your homework."

"Gilmore, don't aggravate me. I want to help you out, all right. You're my friend and this is what a friend does. Besides I can do my homework at your house."

Rory just nodded before looking out the window. "I'm glad we're friends Paris."

It was just a whisper but it made Paris smile. She had her first _real_ friend.

"Where's your house?"


	6. Chapter 6

Paris had been at Rory's house for three hours and she had watched in fascination as Rory ate the food that she had purchased. _Where does it all go?_

As soon as they had entered the house Rory had gone to her room to change into a pair of pajama shorts and an oversized white t-shirt. There had not been much talking as Rory ate, watched movies, and cried before falling asleep, again. Paris had watched some of the movies with Rory and ate a few of the many snack foods but had mostly worked on work for school.

A knock on the door brought Paris out of her thoughts and woke Rory up. Paris was at the door before Rory could sit up. She was ready to give person hell. She opened the door to find a boy dressed in a leather jacket and holding a cup of coffee standing on the other side. His face was a mixture between anger and worry.

"Who are you?"

Paris was taken aback "Who are _you_?"

Rory came to stand next to Paris at the door. "Jess, what are you doing here?"

"I overheard your mom telling Luke what happened over the phone and decided to come see if you needed anything. I brought coffee."

Paris moved away from the door and went to go gather her things. _Rory won't need me now that her other friend's here. _

Rory took the coffee before saying, "That was sweet, Jess, but I don't need anything. Paris has been taking good care of me and she's going to spend the night to keep me company. I'm really sorry, but I just want to be with another girl right now."

She tried to give him a small smile to let him know that she appreciated his gesture but gave up when her facial muscles refused to cooperate.

Paris had looked up with shock when she had heard Rory say that she would be staying the night. She stopped packing her things up and moved back to the door. She watched as a look of disappointment flashed across the boy's face before it was replaced by an understanding smile.

_He likes her. _The thought came out of nowhere but Paris knew she was right. It was written all over his face.

"Okay, I just wanted to be sure you didn't need anything. I didn't want you to be alone right now."

Rory nodded her head and turned her eyes away as they filled with tears. "Thanks for caring, Jess. I'll talk to you later, I just need the rest of the day to get over everything."

_I'll always care._ He did not speak the thought out loud. Instead he said, "I'll see you later then. Remember you can call if need anything."

"Okay, Jess. Bye."

"Bye."

Rory closed the door and leaned back against it. Her hands covered her face and her shoulders began to shake. Paris crossed her arms across her chest.

"Rory, do you…want to talk about it?"

Rory shook her head no and began to rub the tears out of her eyes.

"Lets go put on some pajamas."

She led the way to her room and searched through one of her drawers before pulling out a pajama top and bottom set that had blue stars all over them.

"You can change in the bathroom."

Paris nodded and turned to go into the bathroom. She looked over her shoulder and saw Rory; shoulders slumped in dejection, looking alone and lost in her own bedroom.

"Are you sure you don't want to talk about it."

She saw Rory's shoulders move in a shrug and when the silenced stretched on she went onto the bathroom.

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It felt as if everything inside Rory was breaking. During her relationship with Tristan she had never noticed how much of her heart she had really given him. Now she felt every inch of the heart she had given him as it was slowly shredded.

Her mind continued to play that scene in the hallway. Sometimes she would imagine what it must have been like when Tristan and Mandy had slept together. Their bodies moving together and Tristan's voice as he whispered someone else's name as he climaxed.

She lay down and covered her head with a pillow, wishing that it could drown out the noises of pleasure.

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Paris entered Rory's room to find her lying on the bed, her head covered with a pillow. She looked around for a pillow and blanket, trying not to disturb Rory. She was just about to give up and ask Rory when she spoke.

"It hurts so much. It hurts that I wasn't good enough. It hurts that he cheated and broke all of his promises. It hurts to know that I was so stupid." Rory let out a sob. "I see them in the hallway kissing. I see them in the bed having sex. I hear their shouts of pleasure. I hear _everybody _mocking me for ever trusting him."

It seemed to be as if someone else was moving was controlling Paris' body when she walked across the room, sat on the bed, and rubbed Rory's back in comfort.

"He was the one who wasn't good enough. You weren't stupid, you were trusting and anybody who laughs at you is jealous that you could be so trusting. I can't say first hand that you will get over it, but you are the type to endure. I'm not mocking you, your mom will not mock you, and Jess did not mock you. None of your true friends will mock you for trusting or for loving him."


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Thank you all for the reviews. I'm really sorry that it has taken me so long to update, I was really busy then I forgot what I was going to write for this chapter. So again, I'm ****_really _sorry that it has taken me so long to update.**

Paris woke up to the sun shining in her eyes and glanced at the clock, 11:12, she hummed and rolled over. The time registered in her mind and she sat straight up before looking at the clock again, sure that she had read it wrong. She hadn't. She marched into the living room where Lorelai was watching television.

"Why didn't you wake me up?" She asked sharply.

Lorelai looked up at her. "You stayed up late."

"I have school today."

"I know, I called both you and Rory in sick."

"I had perfect attendance, and I'm not sick."

"I know that, but they don't." Lorelai's voice shook with suppressed laughter.

"You ruined my perfect attendance and lied about it. What if they find out that I wasn't really sick? What if they tell all the colleges that I apply to, then I might have to go to a community college!?"

"Relax, I'm sure they won't find out your not sick." Lorelai's eyes began to sparkle with devilment. "Unless, well, I'm sure they wouldn't."

"Wouldn't what?"

"Well, they won't find out unless it's one of those days, you know the day they keep a particularly close eye on attendance and send police around to be sure that the students aren't just skipping and ruining Chilton's attendance rate."

"They don't do that." Paris said in an unconvincing tone.

Lorelai shrugged her shoulders and watched the television with a slight smile. Paris pulled her cell phone out of her backpack, hopefully Madeline or Louis was at school, she needed to be sure to have the homework and notes.

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Rory walked into the living room to find Paris texting while mumbling about 'lies, police, and community college' while her mom watched with wide eyes and a smirk in place. Rory shook her head and sat down between the two before Lorelai could make a mocking comment that would lead Paris to commit homicide.

"Hey, sweets! How do you feel?"

Rory shrugged her shoulders and turned her head to watch Paris finish texting and slam her phone down on the coffee table while mumbling about 'incompetent fools, golf clubs, and witnesses'. Paris looked over at her, as if just noticing that she was there.

"What do we do today?"

"What?" Rory asked, confused by the question.

"Yesterday you wallowed, today you..." Paris let her sentence trail off.

"Today we make a box!" Lorelai answered as she moved to the hall closet.

Rory looked up just as Lorelai pulled a box from the back of the closet.

"I don't think I'm ready." She said around the lump in her throat.

"Ready for what? What's the box for?" Paris asked.

Lorelai sat the box down on the coffee table as she explained. "You make a box after a hard break up. You put all reminders of the guy into the box and put the box out of sight, that way there are no reminders of the guy when you're at home."

Rory decided to not point out that it never seemed to do her mom any good. After all, she was still hung up on her dad. She shook the cruel thoughts from her mind and looked at the box, a box that would soon be full of her bittersweet memories of a seemingly almost perfect relationship.

"Okay, where do we start?" Lorelai asked.

Rory took a deep, calming breath before speaking words that seemed to tear at her throat. "_Pride and Prejudice, _the first edition book, and the movie. He got them both for me and called me Elizabeth for a week after we watched the movie together."

Paris went to get the book from Rory's room as Lorelai put the DVD in the box. "I didn't like the movie anyway." She said with a shrug of her shoulders.

"Umm." Rory looked around the living room.

"Your bracelet." Paris supplied.

Rory looked down at the charm bracelet that Tristan had got her two weeks after they had started dating. It had five charms on it; the first charm he had given her was a coffee mug, the second a book, then a L and T intertwined, and the last two he had given to her as a set, two halves of a heart that fit perfectly together. She had been hesitant to accept all of them, not wanting him to waste money on her; but in the end, after a few long, steamy kisses and some coaxing on his part a charm had been added to the growing collection.

"I'll get a small box to put it in." Lorelai said as she ran to her room.

Rory bit her lip as her fingers fumbled to open the clasp. Paris brushed her hand aside and undid the clasp herself before rubbing Rory's back in an awkward, yet soothing gesture.

"Umm," Paris said uncertainly as she stared at Rory's hand. "What about that?"

Rory looked at the promise ring that Tristan had got her just three weeks before. It was simple, the only decoration on the small band was Tristan's birthstone, he wore the same promise ring with her birthstone on a chain around his neck. As she took the ring off tears leaked from the corners of her eyes. Lorelai came down with a small jewelers box and handed to Paris to put the bracelet and ring in it. Paris put the small box inside the Tristan box, which Lorelai quickly placed inside the closet.

Paris looked back at Rory, who had covered her face with her hands. She grabbed her hands and forcefully pulled them away. "Stop it!"

She now had Rory's attention. "Stop crying, wallowing, whatever! You've done that already, move forward! This is not you, he is not worth it! You are strong, independent person! Where is the person who refused to run away from my anger like everyone else? I'm trying to be a good friend, but right now you're not being someone I want to be friends with! Stop being so weak, I can only handle so much!"

During Paris' rant Rory's face had turned red. "I can't help it! It hurts! He hurt me!"

"So, hurt him back! But, be yourself, not this weak person, don't become like the other girls!"

"I'm not like them!"

"Not yet at least." Paris' tone was softer, more scornful.

"I'm not going to be!"

"You're already becoming weak because of him." Paris shrugged her shoulders. "Who knows what will happen next."

"I'm not weak! I'm not like them!"

"Prove it." Her tone was challenging.

"Fine! I will." Rory took a deep breath and wiped all signs of tears off of her face. "I will."

She stood up and walked towards her room. Lorelai, continued to watch with wide eyes.

"Rory," She said hesitantly. "Where are you going?"

"To get some clothes and take a shower."

"Why?"

"I'm hungry and I'm not going to Luke's in my pajamas."

"Okay then."


End file.
